Popeye comic books were originally written and drawn by Bud Sadndorf. In the series published by Dell, Popeye became a freelance police assistant, fighting the Mafia and Bluto's criminal activities. A variety of artists have created Popeye comic book stories since then; George Wildman drew Popeye stories for Charlton Comics. The Gold Key series was illustrated by Wildman and scripted by Bill Pearson, with some issues written by Nick Cuti.